If anyone involved in an area of work associated with animal health  ever has had question regarding the relevance of their efforts, this is a time when such thoughts should be very distant.  The prominence of animal health and disease in the world has high visibility in our national news and in our everyday converasations.  As veterinarians, we should keep ourselves as informed as possible as to what is going on in various countries of the world regarding diseases that could be a threat to our animal populations and we should be potential sources of accurate and relevant information regarding various diseases and disorders that have potential threat to our human or animal populations.  The amount of misinformation and the number of uninformed individuals about some of these animal disease issues is astonishing and, in many instances, appalling.

The prominence of Foot and Mouth Disease (how many times have you heard it referred to as Hoof and Mouth) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in the news gives us reason to increase our vigilance to detect either of these disorders should it find its way into our country by whatever means.  This issue includes a release from USDA/APHIS regarding FMD that is succinct, pertinent and relevant.  We continue to provide assistance to the national surveillance of our animal populations in identifying those national/internationally threatening diseases should they occur here.

We hope that this missive finds you enjoying beautiful spring weather; as I write this there is a light dusting of snow outside that I hope is the last for the year.  As always, we look forward to assisting in the maintenance of the health of animals in Indiana.  If there are changes we can make in pursuance of our mission, please let us know.